Getting the backstory on sexual harassment

Union-Tribune file photo

Irene McCormack, left, with attorney Gloria Allred in 2013, was the first to come forward alleging sexual harassment against then-mayor Bob Filner. McCormack's decision to break her silence led to an avalanche of accusations from other women and to Filner's eventual downfall.

Irene McCormack, left, with attorney Gloria Allred in 2013, was the first to come forward alleging sexual harassment against then-mayor Bob Filner. McCormack's decision to break her silence led to an avalanche of accusations from other women and to Filner's eventual downfall. (Union-Tribune file photo)

In today’s story on the lessons learned — or not learned — from the Bob Filner sexual abuse and harassment scandal, reporters Michele Parente and Karla Peterson asked some of the key players to give their perspective of that time through the lens of events in 2017.

Q: Why dredge up the Filner debacle now?

Parente: As part of our coverage of how the #MeToo movement is unfolding in San Diego, we recognized the striking parallels between Filner and others, like Harvey Weinstein.

There were the blatant abuses of power over a period of years. The men’s volatile personalities that instilled fear in their victims and everyone in the abusers’ sphere. There was this resigned acceptance of “Harvey/Bob just being Harvey/Bob.” There was the long list of victims who stayed silent for so long — and those likely who’ll never come forward — and the behind-the-scenes power plays to manage the scandal.

As we say in the story, San Diego really was a dress rehearsal for what’s happening now.

Q: Did anything surprise you while reporting this story?

Parente: There is still a lot of finger-pointing going on locally about who did what and what their motivations were then and now. It’s a “he said, she said” aspect of politics that will follow the Filner story around for years.

Peterson: Given that the Harvey Weinstein story just broke in October, it was stunning to see how quickly attitudes toward accusations of sexual harassment have changed.

Every person we interviewed talked about how people are believing women now in a way they weren’t being believed before. People are listening in a way they weren’t listening before. It is a huge change, and this has really only happened over the last few months. It has been just four years since the Filner scandal, but it feels like it happened in a completely different universe.

Q: What other angles of the sexual harassment issue will you be writing about?

Parente: We’re hoping to tell women’s stories so that readers can get a better sense of the lasting impact of being harassed. We’re asking women to share their story with us, confidentially if they choose.

We’ve already spoken with several women, but some have made contact with us and then decided they weren’t ready to speak out about what happened to them. That is so reflective of how difficult a decision it is to come forward.

Peterson: Every time I write write a column about sexual harassment, I hear from women who are so incredibly relieved and gratified that these stories are coming out and that the issue is being taken seriously. I also hear from men who are very disturbed that these things have been happening right under their noses and they had no idea how severe and pervasive it was.

Women really want men to understand that sexual harassment is something we start dealing with when we are girls, and we have to keep dealing with it for our entire lives. It shapes so many decisions we make on a daily basis. And I think men want women to understand that not all of them are creeps or predators.

A lot of communicating and educating needs to happen, so there will be plenty of topics for us to tackle in the new year.